The 21st Boh Cameronian Arts Awards (BCAA), held last night at the Petaling Jaya Performing Arts Centre (PJPAC), saw major honours go to works that revisited the legend – both man and myth – of Hang Tuah through documentary theatre, alongside a dance production that traced the resilience and grace of Malay women across history and lore, including Tun Teja, Mahsuri, Cik Siti Wan Kembang and Puteri Saadong.
Fragments Of Tuah by Five Arts Centre and Setanggi Tari Melayu 2025 – Quintessential Malay Dance by ASK Dance Company emerged as the evening’s top honourees, each receiving the prestigious “Best of 2025” awards, recognising the most outstanding productions of the year.
They also dominated the Theatre and Dance categories.
Fragments Of Tuah stood out on the night, with Mark Teh of Five Arts Centre taking Best Director (Theatre) for his incisive re-reading of history. The production also won Best Original Script, with Teh, Faiq Syazwan Kuhiri, Wong Tay Sy and Syamsul Azhar collectively credited for crafting a layered, research-driven storyline that blurs the line between archive and performance.
In the Dance category, Setanggi Tari Melayu 2025 – Quintessential Malay Dance by ASK Dance Company was awarded Best Group Performance, shared between ASK Dance Company and its ensemble collaborators from Aswara and UPSI.
The production also bagged the Best Choreographer in a Feature Work award, collectively credited to Joseph Gonzales, the late Azmie Zainal Abdden, Fauzi Amirudin, Zulkarnain Zuber and Imran Syafiq Mohd Affandi, acknowledging their collaborative choreographic vision within the work.
Among other notable winners include Nabila Huda for Best Actor in Supporting Role (Musical category) as Malam in Teater Masmoona by Storyteller Production, Muzza for Best Solo Performance - Vocal (Music category) in Symphonic Rock 2.0 by Tutan Entertainment and Jyotsna Prakash and Hariraam Tingyuan Lam for Best Music and Sound Design (Dance category) in The Artiste’s Dream by The Temple Of Fine Arts.
Costume designer Naz Manterang bagged a double – Best Costume Design, Styling and Make-up in both Dance (with Adam Viccong in Setanggi Tari Melayu 20205 - Quintessential Malay Dance) and Musical Theatre (with Jijie Zainal in Teater Muzikal Paduka Cik Siti by Persatuan Alumni Aswara and Aswara) categories.
Gangsapura, a contemporary Malay gamelan group, swept four awards across the Music category: Best Visual Presentation, Best Original Composition, Best Group Performance – Instrumental and Best Production Values.
The BCAA event, hosted by singer-actor Sean Ghazi and emerging talent Huhu Maira, featured the presentation of 39 awards, including the Best of 2025 Awards, alongside the unveiling of this year’s Lifetime Achievement Award recipient. A total of 40 winners were recognised for excellence spanning Dance, Music, Musical and Theatre.
The ceremony also conferred the Boh Cameronian Lifetime Achievement Award on Prof Dr Mohd Anis Md Nor, in recognition of his enduring contributions to Zapin and the wider Malaysian performing arts landscape.
A leading scholar of Malay and South-East Asian dance and music, he has played a pivotal role in advancing the study, preservation and international understanding of traditional performance forms.
This year's awards were presented by industry figures including Kakiseni founders Kathy Rowland and Jenny Daneels, as well as theatre stalwarts Jo Kukathas, Joe Hasham and Datuk Faridah Merican.
